Traffic / Driving in Los Angeles / Can I handle a manual?

[Supafreak]

Hey everyone,

I am moving to Los Angeles from NYC in May and am having a slight car dilemma. I am wondering whether or not I will want to shoot myself if I get a car with a manual transmission in LA. I am not sure exactly where I will live but I do know that I will certainly have to endure rush hour traffic. I have always loved driving a stick but I am not sure that will be able to tolerate the infamous LA traffic. Or even worse, lose my passion for driving! I have driven a car with a manual in NYC gridlock probably 5 or 6 times and handled it just fine. That being said, I have never dealt with that situation repeatedly.

I was wondering if any of you guys could shed light on traffic in LA and your experiences with manual transmissions. Is rush hour traffic just slow moving or will it be stop and go for an hour at a time? Do a lot of people still use manuals out there or does everyone go automatic because of the traffic. Being somewhat of a car purist, I do not like the thought that all those amazing cars people drive in southern California are fitted with automatics.

Any advice or personal experiences with LA traffic or manuals or (preferably) both will be very appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
-Freak

 

[pulse8]

I drove a manual transmission in LA for 4 years and didn't have any problems. Sometimes in really bad highway traffic it gets rough, but just leave a lot of room between you and the person ahead of you and it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[KLin]

There's nothing fun about driving a manual in rush traffic.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: KLin
There's nothing fun about driving a manual in rush traffic.

 

[Skunkwourk]

Traffic is terrible, seriously, just goto sigalert and look at the traffic on the 10 and 405 around 3-5pm on any day.

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: m0mentary
Traffic is terrible, seriously, just goto sigalert and look at the traffic on the 10 and 405 around 3-5pm on any day.

Depending on where he moves to, he may never have to even use the freeway. Hell, I live in Hollywood and work in West LA and I never use the freeway.

 

[andylawcc]

it LARGELY depends where your commute is.

if you live in the westside and have to drive to downtown to work, then god bless your left foot should you have a manual.

I drive a manual all these years in LA. I lived in Alhambra (2 years) and San Gabriel (3 years) and my work is in Rowland Heights. It was mainly against traffic.
Now, once I have to go to the westside (UCLA area) around 4pm on a Friday, the drive towards there is okay. but the return trip was "OMG-i-wanna-kill-myself" painful

 

[Q]

Why take a risk -- just get an auto.

 

[yhelothar]

If you really enjoy driving, manual won't be really bothersome at all. It really becomes second nature and your body just automatically navigates the car as if it was an extra limb.

 

[theeedude]

I would probably get an auto if I lived in LA, simply because traffic is really slow even for first gear often times.
Maybe get one of those dual clutch automatics that supposedly feels like a manual because there is no liquid torque converter.

 

[Supafreak]

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: m0mentary
Traffic is terrible, seriously, just goto sigalert and look at the traffic on the 10 and 405 around 3-5pm on any day.

Depending on where he moves to, he may never have to even use the freeway. Hell, I live in Hollywood and work in West LA and I never use the freeway.

Thanks for the insights guys. Question for the guys experienced in LA: is rush hour traffic generally relegated to the freeways? Pulse8's response seems to indicate this.

Thanks again,
-Freak

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: KLin
There's nothing fun about driving a manual in rush traffic.

My clutch foot would fall asleep when driving from my old house to work. Commute at the time was anywhere between a hour and a hour and a half one way.

 

[sirjahmez]

Definitely get an automatic. I had to drive from Northridge to UCLA every day on the 405 with a manual and I just wanted to kill myself. My commute took 2 hours to drive 30 miles on the freeway. It was the worst experience of my life. Just 30 minutes in, my leg would start hurting cause of all the stop and go. How I hated driving in LA. It's like that throughout the westside of LA from Santa Monica all the way to downtown.

 

[kt]

I commuted into LA for about 5 years and drove a stick during that time. Didn't really bother me that much actually and in fact it kind of helped me stay awake. I am driving an auto right now and I find myself wanting to fall asleep whenever I get stuck in traffic.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: KLin
There's nothing fun about driving a manual in rush traffic.

True Dat.

BUT, not all your driving will be in rush hour traffic.

 

[compman25]

Originally posted by: KLin
There's nothing fun about driving a manual in rush traffic.

especially if you have 10 or more gears.

 

[shopbruin]

Originally posted by: Supafreak

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: m0mentary
Traffic is terrible, seriously, just goto sigalert and look at the traffic on the 10 and 405 around 3-5pm on any day.

Depending on where he moves to, he may never have to even use the freeway. Hell, I live in Hollywood and work in West LA and I never use the freeway.

Thanks for the insights guys. Question for the guys experienced in LA: is rush hour traffic generally relegated to the freeways? Pulse8's response seems to indicate this.

Thanks again,
-Freak

no. some city streets can get really crowded too. wilshire blvd is absolute freaking HELL from around where the 405 is. i have been STUCK from about 20th in santa monica to freaking barrington for ONE HOUR trying to get back to where in live in westwood at about 530pm. it didn't help that it was raining that day.

traffic lights are not correctly timed, and the city is not putting in enough left turn only signals, which people don't observe anyways.

it really depends on where you're going to and from each day. when i lived in koreatown, to go to work in the morning towards hollywood, it would take me about... 15 mins tops on city streets. coming home in the afternoon usually took me half an hour on the exact same city streets. the freeway was out of the question because of the crush on the 101 towards downtown.

by the way, there's traffic all the time in LA. avoid the 405 if you can. i hate it here on the westside. can't wait until i'm out of here.

 

[JS80]

Originally posted by: Supafreak

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: m0mentary
Traffic is terrible, seriously, just goto sigalert and look at the traffic on the 10 and 405 around 3-5pm on any day.

Depending on where he moves to, he may never have to even use the freeway. Hell, I live in Hollywood and work in West LA and I never use the freeway.

Thanks for the insights guys. Question for the guys experienced in LA: is rush hour traffic generally relegated to the freeways? Pulse8's response seems to indicate this.

Thanks again,
-Freak

NO NO NO RUSH HOUR IS NOT JUST FREEWAYS. It fucking takes me 20 minutes to drive 1.4 miles home during rush hour.

DO NOT GET A MANUAL.

 

[uclaLabrat]

I live in orange county and drive to UCLA 5-6 days a week. Westside is not as bad I think, but I try to leave at odd hours. Then again, if I had a manual, I'd want to shoot myself.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: senseamp
I would probably get an auto if I lived in LA, simply because traffic is really slow even for first gear often times.
Maybe get one of those dual clutch automatics that supposedly feels like a manual because there is no liquid torque converter.

I was just about to suggest that; grab a used VW with a DSG transmission. Most of the cars that come paired with it (GTI, Jetta GLI) are pretty fun to drive anyways. Win-win situation.

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: Supafreak

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: m0mentary
Traffic is terrible, seriously, just goto sigalert and look at the traffic on the 10 and 405 around 3-5pm on any day.

Depending on where he moves to, he may never have to even use the freeway. Hell, I live in Hollywood and work in West LA and I never use the freeway.

Thanks for the insights guys. Question for the guys experienced in LA: is rush hour traffic generally relegated to the freeways? Pulse8's response seems to indicate this.

Thanks again,
-Freak

NO NO NO RUSH HOUR IS NOT JUST FREEWAYS. It fucking takes me 20 minutes to drive 1.4 miles home during rush hour.

DO NOT GET A MANUAL.

Holy shit, 20 minutes for a mile and a half? I'd just jog!

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: freesia39

Originally posted by: Supafreak

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: m0mentary
Traffic is terrible, seriously, just goto sigalert and look at the traffic on the 10 and 405 around 3-5pm on any day.

Depending on where he moves to, he may never have to even use the freeway. Hell, I live in Hollywood and work in West LA and I never use the freeway.

Thanks for the insights guys. Question for the guys experienced in LA: is rush hour traffic generally relegated to the freeways? Pulse8's response seems to indicate this.

Thanks again,
-Freak

no. some city streets can get really crowded too. wilshire blvd is absolute freaking HELL from around where the 405 is. i have been STUCK from about 20th in santa monica to freaking barrington for ONE HOUR trying to get back to where in live in westwood at about 530pm. it didn't help that it was raining that day.

traffic lights are not correctly timed, and the city is not putting in enough left turn only signals, which people don't observe anyways.

it really depends on where you're going to and from each day. when i lived in koreatown, to go to work in the morning towards hollywood, it would take me about... 15 mins tops on city streets. coming home in the afternoon usually took me half an hour on the exact same city streets. the freeway was out of the question because of the crush on the 101 towards downtown.

by the way, there's traffic all the time in LA. avoid the 405 if you can. i hate it here on the westside. can't wait until i'm out of here.

No, rush hour traffic isn't limited to freeways, but taking surface streets can minimize the brunt of traffic by taking alternate routes.

If you're on Wilshire near the 405, you deserve to be in that kind of traffic. I've spent a lot of time finding the best route to and from work and it's always a 35 to 40 minute drive. Even during the worst traffic times.

 

[andylawcc]

Originally posted by: pulse8
If you're on Wilshire near the 405, you deserve to be in that kind of traffic

I was in UCLA area on a friday around 4:30 and have to return to San Gabriel area. I know the 10 is gonna be bad, so I tried Pico; not even remotely better, tried Olympic, same thing, and I didn't even bother to try Wilshire. End up going back to 10 and take it up the rear

 

[Mahaguru]

<Manual Elitist>Driving a manual will provide you more control in tighter situations, and will allow you to concentrate on the road.</Manual Elitist>

 

[Ns1]

I've driven a stick in LA for 7 years now.

Seriously, if you like driving stick it's not a problem. If it's something you loathe then don't do it.

Originally posted by: andylawcc

Originally posted by: pulse8
If you're on Wilshire near the 405, you deserve to be in that kind of traffic

I was in UCLA area on a friday around 4:30 and have to return to San Gabriel area. I know the 10 is gonna be bad, so I tried Pico; not even remotely better, tried Olympic, same thing, and I didn't even bother to try Wilshire. End up going back to 10 and take it up the rear

At 430 I just go eat, costco, bar, whatever. Then I get back on the freeway at 7.



IMHO driving in LA is more about scheduling everything so you're not on the road during rush hour(s).

 

[FleshLight]

Anyone know how the 405N will be from Irvine to HB at 10am on a weekday?